This morning (5-3), the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City opened the trial of defendant Truong My Lan (born in 1956; Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group) and her husband Chu Lap Co and 84 other accomplices in the case that occurred at Van Thinh Phat Group Joint Stock Company, Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), and related companies, units, and organizations (referred to as the Van Thinh Phat case).
Since early morning on March 5th, the area around the People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City has been tightened with security and traffic control.
On the streets surrounding the court such as Nam Ky Khoi Nghia, Nguyen Du, Nguyen Trung Truc, Ly Tu Trong… many security forces are present, including the traffic police, mobile police, and local police… Journalists covering the trial must comply with strict operation regulations to ensure absolute safety during the trial.
86 defendants in the case are charged with embezzlement, bribery, abuse of power while performing official duties, serious responsibility causing serious consequences, violating regulations on banking activities, and offering bribes.
The competent authorities determined that the defendant Truong My Lan embezzled more than 304,000 trillion dong and caused damage in the amount of more than 129,000 trillion dong (the interest incurred from the embezzled principal amount).
court security
The trial is expected to conclude on April 29th, with Judge Pham Luong Toan as the chairperson. The Supreme People’s Procuracy has assigned 10 prosecutors from the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Procuracy to have the right to prosecute.
Below are the images before the trial starts:
The vehicles transporting the defendants started arriving at the court at 6:53 AM today.
